Out of the Darkness
by BeastNamedKay
Summary: After being recommended by her brother, Stephanie gets a job at RangeMan. What happens when the broken girl and the man with a dark soul fall in love? Can they heal each others hearts?
1. The Recommendation

"Sis, I think I may have found something for you," said my older brother, Easton. He is only three months older than me and was adopted when I was seven, but he is just as much of a big brother to me as any biological brother could be.

"Really?" I ask. I have been out of work since I divorced the Dick. I have been having a hard job finding anything else despite my master's in business. I have been staying with Easton until I can get back on my feet. I swear that man is a Godsend!

"Yea, I heard my boss and his second in command complaining about paperwork and needing some help so I told them about you. I hope that's alright," he says, developing a little blush at the end. The man is 6'5" and intimidating as hell but is shy as all get out!

"Oh my God, East, you are so amazing!" I say, jumping up and wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. I placed a big, fat kiss on his cheek and jumped down.

"So I guess it was a good idea!" he said, smiling all 200 watts at me. That man is handsome and I am not ashamed of saying it! His smile dimmed a little and a look of apprehension slipped into his eyes.

"What's wrong, Eastie?" I ask. Suddenly an unwelcome thought popped into my head. "You aren't worried about working in the same place, are you? I mean I always could look-"

"No! No, that's not it, I promise! You wouldn't mind me taking you shopping for something to wear to the meeting, would you? I was just going through your wardrobe in my head and you might need something a little more… business-like."

"Easton, you know I don't have the money and I can't accept something like that form you!" I say to him. I can't stand taking gifts from anyone, much less expensive ones.

"Look, Stephanie, please let me do this for you! Don't think of it as a gift, you kinda need this. You know good first impressions and stuff," Easton said, dragging his hand through his messy black hair. "Please?"

Oh no. Must. Not. Give. In! Don't. Look. At. Eyes!

Too late. One look at his pleading stormy gray eyes and I was gone. He doesn't do it intentionally, but whenever he does it, I just remember the lost little boy that wandered to our front steps when we were seven.

"Fine. But nothing too expensive, okay?" I say. Seeing the flash in his eye, I knew it was a mistake letting Fashion-Guru East buy me clothes.

"_Easton Flynn Plum_! I _told_ you _not_ to spend too much money! I said _one_ outfit! _This is more than one_!" I screamed at Easton as he walked in the apartment with multiple bags from some of the most expensive places in the mall.

"Look, Stephie, Baby, please? Will you please, please, please accept my gifts? You very rarely let me give you things like Mom, Dad, Val, and Grandma do so I wanted to take advantage of it," said Easton, doing the eye pleading again. Later on in life, instead of going to college like I did, he enlisted in the army. He quickly climbed the rank ladderand was inducted into the Army Rangers. He was close to making the record for youngest inductee but that title was claimed by another guy, very narrowly I might add. He soon retired and he now goes on 'missions' occasionally. For theses missions, he gets paid an obscene amount of money and that, accompanied by the good pay of his current job, has added up. He is now a multibillionaire. Go Easton!

I finally gave in with a sigh. "Fine. Let me see what you got."

Three shirts, seven necklaces, six pairs of earrings, three rings, five bracelets, twelve pairs of shoes, twenty-two dresses, two bags, two skirts, a coat, three pant suits, and a pair of sunglasses later, Easton and I have decided everything that I am wearing to my interview tomorrow, including underwear. I thought that that was taking it a little too far, but East will forever be an overachiever.

"So, do you know what my job description would be?" I ask Easton later en route to Pino's to meet up with our older sister and her daughters for dinner.

"I have no idea. All I know is that they need someone who knows what they are doing to help out with paperwork. Ranger, who is the top boss by the way, goes on missions like me and often leaves the paperwork for Tank, his second in command. You will see why his name is Tank when you meet him."

Placated with his reply, I leaned back into the leather seat of Easton's Q7. Suddenly, I am being jolted awake (I fell asleep? Huh?) by Easton's voice. "Lucky, we are here!"

Lucky is the nickname East gave me because of (duh) my luck. I have always had the luck to get out of pretty bad situations. Last time though, my luck, kicked in a little late…

"Little help?" I ask Easton. I always have trouble getting out of SUVs and trucks because of my height. I am only 5'1" and God I am small! You wouldn't think so with the way I eat. I don't even exercise! Thank the Lord for my Hungarian metabolism!

"I was getting to it!" Easton says defensively.

"Sure…" I say, looking around. Ever since… the accident, I have been really skittish outside of home.

"Steph, it will be okay. I got you," Easton says softly, looking me straight in the eye and wrapping his muscular arm around my small waist. Leaning my head on his shoulder, we start our walk from the car to the door of Pino's.

Upon entrance, Easton and I were assaulted by the smell of Pino's pizzas and sub sandwiches. Yum! Walking to the back of the restaurant we see Valerie and her four girls, Angie, Mary Alice, Lisa, and Stella.

"Aunt Stephie! Uncle East!" Mary Alice says, running up to give both East and I a hug. Val and Angie were more civil, waiting until we got to the table to stand up and hug us. Lisa- roughly a year and a half old- said her greeting as well (Annie Seph and Uncie E) and Stella, being only seven months, just waved and gurgled her baby gurgle.

"So, how has everything been, guys?" Valerie said after the waitress left the table to go get the drinks.

"Easton found me a job!" I said excitedly.

"Oh, that is great news! Where is it?" Valerie says back just as excited as I.

"It's at RangeMan. You know the security firm I work for?" Easton replied.

"Our school is secured by them," Angie said. "I saw a couple of them at one of our practice lockdowns and they looked pretty scary."

Hearing this, I glanced up at Easton.

"They really aren't that bad. Most of them are strong and silent types," Easton says.

"Two cherry Cokes, two junior fruit punches**, **two Sprites, and one cup of ice cold water," said our waitress when she came back from the kitchen.

After ordering the actual meal (none of us had to look at the menu as we come to Pino's quite often), Angie and Mary Alice told Easton and I how school was going.

"I have been getting straight A's, but in math it is a low A. I really don't like math," Angie says. Knowing Angie, she is really beating herself up over that one low A. Angie has overheard Valerie and me talking about how Valerie wishes she had had better grades and maybe she could have gone to a better college. Ever since then, Angie has been obsessed with her grades.

"I can help you with your math if you want, Ang. You know I am somewhat of a math whiz!" I say jokingly. If there were two subjects in school I got good grades in, it was gym and math. Although Angie needs to lighten up on herself, I know this is important to her.

"Really? That would be great, Aunt Steph!" Angie says and immediately the dimness that crept into her eyes talking about her math grades was gone.

"I have an A in all of my subjects except social studies. I have a C in that class. I just can't sit still and listen in that class!" said a disgruntled MA.

"Have you ever tried using some sort of game to review after school and before tests? I had problems with social studies too and that's what I did," said the ever helpful Easton.

"I think I can come up with a few fun ways to review, honey," said Valerie supportively.

Soon our food arrived and a comfortable quiet covered our table, the only sounds being paper crinkling, forks and plates colliding, and, well, my moans. What can I say? My meatball sub was awesome!

After dinner, we all got dessert to go and headed home. Midway through the drive to Easton's house, I felt the hands of dread and despair and any other negative emotions you can think of latch onto me."Oh, Easton, what if they don't like me? And are they really as scary as Angie and MA say they are? I can't handle a lot of stress, East. Not since…"

Then I really lost it. Easton knew he wouldn't be able to calm me down until I knew I was somewhere safe and I have seen too many movies and TV shows with carjackings in it to feel absolutely safe in the SUV. As I was on the verge of throwing up, Easton put his hand on my neck and forced my head between my knees.

"Honey, it is going to be okay, I promise. We are almost home, honey. Just a little while longer," he said while rubbing my back soothingly. Normally this would help me a lot, but I was too far gone in my panic attack to really care about it. There was sweat, snot and tears running down my face. My whole body was quivering like a leaf and my heartbeatwas erratic. I am fairly sure the whimpering and moaning that I heard was coming from me. My memories from that night were flashing though my head but instead there were several large men covered by shadows.

It could have been minutes, hours, or even days before I felt the car stop and Easton carry me to the house. Cradling me like a baby, Easton sits down on what I am assuming is the couch and rocks me back and forth slowly. "Deep breaths, sweetie, deepbreaths**,"** he said soothingly. Focusing on my breathing and his heartbeat, I stopped sweating and my heartbeat slowed. I just sat there in Easton's lap and cried silently.

"Look, baby, it is going to be okay. Even if you don't get the job - which I know you will - there are still other jobs out there for you. While the guys look intimidating, they are all really nice even though several of them don't talk much. RangeMan is a really fair company and you won't be mistreated there," East said. God I love him.

Nodding slowly, I started thanking him. "I am so sorry about that. I don't know what came over me, but thank you for helping me."

"No problem, little sis. I got your back. I can ask Ranger if I can be there during the interview I f you would like," Easton said with concern in his eyes and voice.

"No, no it will be okay. I need to start doing things by myself, but thanks though," I reply.

"Let's get to bed, girl."

"Okay," I say walking into my room and changing. No need to close the door as Easton has already seen it all. Turning off my light, the automatic nightlight came on and I slipped into bed. "Night, Boo."

"Night, Lucky."

I had long since given up the thought of having a nightmare-less sleep and resigned to waking up throughout the night. Hopefully I won't look like a zombie in the morning.


	2. Born Healer

Hello, this is Kay! I wanted to thank all of you for reading, reviewing, and following! I tried to respond to all of your reviews so if I missed you I am terribly sorry. Some of you didn't leave a way for me to respond so thanks to you guys too. I have posted some links on my profile to different things from this chapter and chapter one. I also want to say that I do not own any of these characters except Easton. I also want to thank LilyGhost for her wonderful ideas and alix33 for her wonderful beta skills!

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Chapter Two

_A tall man - well over six feet -__ was creeping towards me covered completely by darkness. He is nothing but a shadow._

"_Scream and you die," the man said menacingly. His voice sounded rough, gravelly, like he had been smoking a pack a day for years._

_Now I am sweating and panting. I have no idea how to get out of this._

"_Stephanie!" someone said in the distance. "Wake up!"_

_Huh? Wake up? I'm not sleep… am I?_

"Lucky! Wake up!" shouted Easton while shaking me gently.

"Huh? Oh, morning, East," I said groggily.

Easton chuckled humorlessly. "You are the only person I know who can go from screaming to calm in three seconds. You wanna-"

"No, East. Thank you, though**,"** I say. I don't even have to let him finish usually. I know the question that he asks every time he wakes me up from a nightmare: do I want to talk about it. My answer will forever be no. I don't even want to _think_ about it, much less recount the story.

"Ok, well it is just 2:30 and I don't have to be in for work until a little after your meeting should start. Do you want to come and sleep with me?" he asks already knowing my answer. I don't even know why we put ourselves through this. I think I should just start sleeping in his bed all the time.

"Yeah, sure," I say, climbing out of the bed and walking down the hall to Easton's room. Unlike my room, which is painted white and has a fairly light hardwood floor, Easton's room is a light tan with dark hardwood floors

Climbing in his bed with him close behind, he pulls the covers up on both of us and pulls me a little closer. "Steph, you do know that eventually you _are _going to have to talk about what happened."

"Easton. I know. Just… let me try to handle it on my own for a while, okay?" I ask. I really don't plan on seeing anyone about my problems. I don't want to be pitied.

"Okay," Easton replies. His tone of voice, though, says that he really _isn't _okay with it. He will just have to deal. After kissing me on the forehead, both of us slipped into the world of the sleep for a little while longer.

"Stephanie! Wake up! For Christ's sake, _wake up_!" Easton shouted.

"I'm up!" I say grumpily. "You could have just waved some coffee in my face or something. Didn't have to strain yourself so early in the morning."

"I let you sleep as long as you possibly could. I already made breakfast and everything you need is in the bathroom for after you eat. You have two hours," Easton said.

"Gosh, you sound like a drill sergeant!" I say, giggling at the stern face he has.

"Whatever!" Easton said with a chuckle on his way out.

"Wait! Easton, it's too far away!" I say. This has been our routine every morning since we met. I would say it was too far from where I was to the kitchen and he gives me a piggyback ride.

"Climb on, little sis!" Easton says crouching low so I could climb on his back.

As soon as I was on his back and my arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, Easton ran full speed through the halls and down the stairs. We soon arrived at the kitchen. Set out on the breakfast bar was two plates of pancakes, two cups of orange juice, and the container of maple syrup**.**

"Thanks, Eastie!" I say while climbing down and making a sprint towards the food. After discovering that my pancakes were blueberry chocolate **,** I eagerly dug in.

"Are you going to take your car today? You might get to leave before me," Easton says.

"Sure beans, bro!" I reply. "So, are you going to tell me more about your co-workers?"

"Nope. All you need to know is that they are some of the nicest guys you will ever meet. You will be fine," Easton says reassuringly.

"If you say so…" I say, my voice trailing off at the end. Hopping off of my stool, I place my dishes in the dishwasher and grab Easton's.

"You only have an hour and a half now so you better get going," Easton reminds me.

"Yes sir!" I say over my shoulder, walking in the direction of the stairs. After arriving at Easton's en suite bathroom, I turn on the shower and grab my towel**, **loofah**,** body wash, and shampoo.

After exfoliating myself to death, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower stall. After plugging in the flat iron, I grabbed my towel and started drying off. By the time I was done drying and putting on lotion, the flat iron had finished heating.

After crafting my hair into oblivion**,** I started on my makeup. I got out my makeup bag and decided on a smoky eye look. Next up to do is my red lipstick.

Looking at the clock, I realized I only had forty-five minutes left. Grabbing my clothes out from under the cabinet, I set them on the counter after making sure it wasn't dirty or wet. After pulling on my underwear and bra, I grab my black pencil skirt and put it on. Next I put on my white peplum shirt. I put on my black belt on over my shirt. I put in my crystal drop earrings in the first hole in my ears and diamond studs in the second. I then put on my Blue Nile diamond bracelet and my pendant necklace. Taking a look in the mirror, I decide that I look half decent.

Looking at the clock, I see that I still have thirty minutes to waste. Walking down the hall to my room, I grab my six inch Christian Louboutin pumps **. **Grabbing my purse I walk down the stairs, assuming that Easton is in the living room waiting for me.

"Hey, Lucky! Looking good, sweetness!" Easton says with a wink. He is dressed in the CAT boots, black cargos, and RangeMan t-shirt that he wears to work every day.

"I might have to stop and put gas in my car so we might as well leave now," I say quietly as the nerves are setting in.

"Do you want to take something before we leave, Steph?" Easton asks, concern filling his gray eyes.

"Nah, I'm good," I say calmly. Easton is forever worried about my mental health ever since the accident.

"Let's get going!" Easton said excitedly.

Grabbing both sets of keys from the dish we keep them in on the counter in the kitchen, I tossed the keys to the Q7 to Easton. Opening the door to the three car garage, I beeped open my little fire red Audi TT letting Easton pull out first, I follow him down the driveway and to the nearest gas station.

After filling my tank, we made our way to RangeMan. Easton had already told me to park out front although he parks in the employee garage. Pulling my Celine Black bag off of the passenger side, I walk to the door of the building. Waiting on the other side is Easton.

When I enter the building, Easton walks me to the reception desk, holding my hand tightly. The poor man is tenser than I have ever seen him. I honestly don't know what is wrong with him. Maybe he is nervous about how I will react to a new setting and new people. Looking at the desk ahead of me, there was a huge man looking like stratesauruswith a flaming skull on his forehead. I must say that he looked scary as hell but I feel safe here.

Letting go of Easton's hand, I walked ahead and went around the desk and gave the man sitting there a hug. He looked so sad. Almost as if his life had been taken away from him. I remember when my Uncle Dom lost his wife and parents. He looked so sad at their funeral. No one really took the time out to stop saying sorry and just show him how they felt. I walked up to him and gave him the biggest hug I had ever given anyone and told him that I loved him. Till this day, he has been like a second father to me.

Wrapping my arms around the big man's neck, he stiffened for a few seconds then melted and squeezed me tightly back. "If no one else loves you, I do," I say to him quietly so that no one could hear me but him and me. Letting go of me he looked me in the eye and didn't say a word. He didn't have to. I knew that he was saying thank you.

Walking back around the desk and wrapping my hand back in Easton's he stares at me in awe. "I _know_ Momma taught you better than to stare as I was there during the conversation. Close your mouth while you're at it; you'll catch flies with your mouth open like that," I said to him. Easton just closed his mouth, rolled his eyes, and sighed all in one go.

"Hey, Cal. This here is Stephanie Plum, my sister. She is here for an interview with the core team. Doesn't she need a pass?" Easton asked the big man, now known as Cal.

"Nah, man, Ranger figured you would be her guide to the conference room. Take her over to Conference Room 3," Cal said.

"Sure. Come on, Steph. We have to go up to the fifth floor," Easton said, placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me to the elevator. After pressing the button for the fifth floor he turned to me.

"God, Steph you are like a born healer! The man look so dead until today after you hugged him. You are so amazing. Weren't you at least a little scared of him? I mean he is huge!" Easton says.

"Not really. I just feel safe here. I knew that I could trust him," I say. Easton nodded and looked forward, watching the numbers change on the display. Soon there was a ding and the elevator doors opened to the fifth floor.

"Here we go," I whispered to myself.

Walking in, the wall to my right was covered in a big screen with multiple sections, each sections having a different place. To the left was a hall way. The rest of the room was filled with cubicles, most of them containing a person, the rest empty.

A large man the size of a small building walked over to Easton and I. "Hello Ms. Plum, Easton. Ranger is waiting for you, Ms. Plum, in Conference Room 3. I'll escort you," he said.

"Okay. Um, see you later, Boo," I say quietly.

"Time to get lucky, Lucky!" Easton said, kissing the top of my head.

When I nodded to the man, who based on size, I am assuming is Tank, he walked away, expecting me to follow. With a slight nudge from Easton, I was off, heading toward the Conference Room.


	3. The Interview

Tank led me to a room with two glass walls, a glass table, eight swivel chairs, a SmartBoard, and various decorations. Like the rest of the building I have seen so far, it is sleek, professional, and elegant.

"Ma'am, you may take a seat in here and Mr. Manoso will be in here shortly," the black man said before walking out and closing the door softly.

Taking a deep breath, I sit down in one of the chairs and set my purse on the floor beside me. A minute or two passed before the door opened again. This time a handsome man (who am I kidding, all of the RangeMen so far have been handsome) with long dark brown hair pulled into a low pony tail and dark brown eyes walked in. He is wearing a black Armani suit, black dress shoes, a chronograph watch, and a stud earring in one ear. His skin, unlike Tank's, is a nice mocha latte color. Holy hell. This might be the hottest guy I have ever seen. No. He _is_.

Standing up to shake his hand, I felt a small tingle on the back of my neck. Now, I _have_ been known to have a sort of… intuition about things. Like knowing when a person isn't someone I should be around or when something bad is about to happen. But this feeling is different. Good. Strange.

"Hello, I'm Ranger Manoso. I'll be interviewing you today," the man said in a deep voice. I swear his voice is sexy. Like really. Are you kidding me? _Everything_ about the man is sexy. What is wrong with me? "Please sit."

Sitting down, Ranger walked across the table and sat directly in front of me. While watching him walk, I noticed something that I _know_ no one else has. The pain. Well hidden, too. I have no idea what caused it, but I have a feeling it happened a long time ago.

"Well, Easton has filled me in on your educational background. He also says that you have a few talents that would interest me. Tell me about them," Ranger said. I can easily see how he can come off as scary beyond belief and intimidating but honestly, I am not the least bit scared.

"Easton told me you would ask that. According to him, I have amazing instincts but I don't think so. Really, I can just read people really well," I reply. I know his next question. Or rather next command.

"Read me." He said leaning back in his chair with a smug air about him.

"You're not a bad person," I start, "you just think you are. The things you did in the past, they don't matter. They made you who you are today. It wasn't your fault. Let it go."

"I'm not showing you all of that," Ranger says.

"I see more than you think," I reply.

"You don't know anything about me," he says. No one else would have noticed most likely, but his voice wavered a little at the end. Hardly noticeable, but still there.

"I know more than you think."

Slowly nodding and tensing his jaw, Ranger stood up and walked to the door. A few minutes later, Ranger walked back in with a few papers. Sitting back down in his chair he placed the papers in front of me. "This page has your requirements and this one has your benefits," Ranger says pointing to each in turn. "You can look at them now and if you agree to the terms, sign this one. After that you will officially be a RangeMan."

"Don't you mean Range_Wo_man?" I say with a wink. He did a blank face. I guess I was a little rough on him earlier.

"Do you have a pen?" I ask after scanning both the requirements and benefits.

Handing me my pen and standing up, Ranger holds out his hand for me. "Welcome to RangeMan."

"Thank you," I reply. "Quick question, when do I start?"

"As soon as possible," Ranger says quickly. I guess Easton was right; they _are_ drowning in paperwork.

"I can finish out the work day," I say sympathetically.

"Would you like to take a tour of the building?" Ranger says, walking to the door.

"Sure," I reply.

Nodding, Ranger walked out of the room and made a right. "This way is the offices and the lounge. The core team and I have offices. There are also two extra offices, one of which you can have. You can decorate it yourself or you can have the interior designer for the rest of the building design it, free of charge.

"On the right side is my office, Tank's, and Lester's. On the left is Bobby's office and the two extra ones. We can look at them now if you would like," Ranger said.

"It really doesn't matter," I reply.

Nodding, he turned around and walked back into the large room I was in before the interview. "This is the control room. The monitors on the wall in front of us are for the buildings we secure. The cubicles here are for the men to do background checks on our skips, potential clients, and possible hires.

"The first floor is just the reception desk and waiting room. Floor two is finance and HR. There are also several more conference rooms on that floor. Floor three is the shooting range and gym. Floor four has the worker apartments. Six is where our housekeeper, Ella, and her husband who is also the handyman, Louis, stay. Seven is my penthouse apartment. Any questions?" Ranger says

After receiving my refusal, Ranger headed back towards the offices and continued talking. "I have to go meet a few clients later today so you will be in the hands of Tank for the rest of the day."

"Tank is the one who walked me to the conference room, right?"I asked to confirm my suspicion.

"Yes," Ranger replied walking my to the room he had specified as Tank's office.

"You have no reason to be short with me. You are the one who instructed me to read you and I did. My advice is always given to help and not hurt. You can suck it up and take it like a man or you can ignore it but I _will not_ tolerate any rudeness. Do you understand me?" I say. That is one of my pet peeves. I absolutely hate it when people are rude to me especially after I give them advice. To anyone else Ranger's actions may not have seemed rude, but I know better.

"Yes, ma'am," Ranger said with a small smirk. I just pinned him with my patented "I will have none of your shit" stare. Works like a charm.

"I'm sorry. You just unnerved me a little," Ranger said looking anywhere but at me.

"I accept your apology. Let's get this show on the road," I say and knock on Tank's door.

"Enter," Tank said in his deep, baritone voice.

Opening the door, I walk in and sit in a chair in front of his desk. "Hi, Tank. When you were walking me to the conference room, you called me 'Ms. Plum.' Never do that again. It is Stephanie or Steph. You call me Ms. Plum and I look over my shoulder for my mother."

"Ok," he said.

"Hm. You're the strong yet silent type. That's fine with me! I am fairly sure I talk enough for the both of us," I say. At this I got a small smirk.

"I think you and my girlfriend would like each other," Tank said.

"Really? What is she like?" I say excitedly.

"This isn't a social call, guys. Get to work," Ranger says as he turns and walks away.

"Later," Tank said to me.

"So what do you have for me to do?" I ask Tank.

"Well, a lot. You see that box back there?" Tank said, pointing to a cardboard box sitting on the couch under the window. After I nodded, Tank continued. "That is all paperwork and there is another box behind the couch."

"Damn. That's a lot of paperwork. That's like, a whole freaking forest," I say. I'm not even kidding.

"I know, I know. You should see Ranger's pile though. He has even more to do than I do!" Tank said.

"Okay, okay, okay, calm down. Tell me what the most important thing is you need to do and we will work down your list," I say calmly.

"First of all, we need to do payroll," Tank said. "That is the hardest thing for me to do because I absolutely hate it."

"Let me see how you do it," I say.

"What do you mean 'how you do it'? There is only one way to do it, right?" Tank questioned.

"No, there are multiple ways of doing it. There are the hard ways then there are the easy ways," I say.

"Oh, Tank! No wonder you hate it!" I exclaim after Tank took me through the long process he does. "This is one of the hard ways I was telling you about! This job actually falls under my description but I can show you how I'm going to do it if you want."

"Sure. I'm still a little shocked that there is more than one way to do it," Tank says still looking very shocked.

"Let me sit," I commanded.

Ten minutes later, Tank and I were through with payroll and had started on the first box of paperwork.

"So tell me about this girlfriend of yours," I say when I get tired of the only noise being our pens scratching on paper.

"Well, her name is Tallulah but everyone calls her Lula. She is big and loud and beautiful and… Lula," Tank says.

"Sounds like my kinda girl," I say. "Does she like shopping and food?"

"Hell yea!" Tank exclaimed.

"Yea, we'd get along just fine," I say. "Have you guys ever thought about doing everything electronically? I mean you can even sign stuff on your iPads. I can make an app for that."

"You can?" Tank asks, his voice sounding surprised.

"Yes, you can make an app for pretty much anything. I'll get on that as soon as we get done with this. This will also help us 'go green.' If we don't need to print anything to sign, we save trees," I say.

"That sounds good. The core team has been talking about going green for a while now. We have switched all of the light bulbs to the eco-friendly ones and we are switching the SUVs to hybrids," Tank said.

"That is good," I said.

"How about we take a break? We can go to the lounge and get some food. You might be able to meet some more of the men," Tank suggests around12:30. We have been working for about two hours.

"Sure beans, Big Guy!" I say excitedly. In the two hours that we have been working, we found out a lot about each other.

Tank's actual name is Pierre. Getting that out of him was like pulling teeth. Tank, for the most part, grew up in France can came to America when he was 13. His mom died a few years ago and his father was never in the picture. Tank was an Army Ranger with both Ranger and East.

Tank led me out of his office and into the workers' lounge. There are several tables, plenty of counter space, two microwaves, and a Sub-Zero fridge. The room was pretty empty, only two men sitting at a table.

When we walked in, both men looked up. The first one had skin a little lighter than Ranger's, piercing green eyes, and short blonde hair. The man sitting next to him was milk chocolate colored, had deep brown eyes, and short brown hair. Both of them were ridiculously handsome.

"Guys, this is Stephanie Plum. She is the woman here to take paperwork off of our backs!" Tank said. "This one here is Bobby and the dumb looking one sitting next to him is Lester."

"Don't be mean! I'm sure Lester is an intelligent man even if he doesn't look it," I say.

"Yea, listen to Sweet and Sexy!" Lester said. At this, Lester gets a swift swat on the head from Bobby. "Hey!"

"Nice to meet you," Bobby says as he sticks out his hand towards me.

"Same here!" I say, shaking his hand.

After Tank and I grabbed sandwiches from the fridge, we both sat down with Lester and Bobby. Lester is pretty much the company clown and flirt and Bobby is the company medic. Both are very funny. I have a feeling that I am going to love working at RangeMan.


	4. Promises, Promises

Omigod it has been so long! First things first, Sheyenne is doing much much better! Matter of fact, she is going to go home tomorrow. Yay! Second, I want to say thank you to all of you guys that have read and reviewed. Your support has made me and my husband feel so much better about the whole situation (Damn, I'm getting teary). Third, I would like to say thank you to my wonderful beta, alix33. Lastly, I would like to tell you that this chapter is really, really short. it was only like two pages in Word but I was in a hurry to get it to you so I didn't want to force myself to make it longer. Thanks for being patient!

* * *

Four hours, three more boxes of paper, and two sets of crossed eyes later, Tank and I were finally done with paperwork. We would have been done earlier but Tank found more boxes he had hid in a closet.

"Tank, as long as I never have to do this much paperwork at one time, we should be okay," I say after lying down on the floor.

"You do realize that Ranger probably has more paperwork than I did, right?" Tank says, leaning over me.

"Grrrrr! I am going to have to take some home or delegate or something!" I said. Well more like screamed but you get the point. Tank just laughed and helped me off the floor.

"I am fairly sure Easton is about to clock out. Do you want me to call him?" Tank said.

"Sure. We need to leave soon anyway so that we aren't late for dinner at our parents' house. We have to be there by six and no later or else the food will be dry and ruined and it is our fault," I reply with a laugh.

Soon we heard a knock on the door and in walked Easton. "Damn girl, you look wore out and it is just your first day!" he said jokingly.

"Well, tell that to your paperwork neglecting bosses!" I said with a glare towards Tank. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let me get my stuff first," Easton said walking back out the door.

"Tank, don't forget to give Lula my number; I am expecting a call from her soon!" I say over my shoulder after Easton got back with his stuff.

"Yes, ma'am!" Tank said. Smartass.

"So how did you like it?" Easton asks while helping me put my stuff in the car. Even though I have my own computer and iPad**, **Tank still insisted that I took one of each home with me.

"I love it! I can't wait for Monday so I can come back!" I said before shutting my door and starting the car.

Ten minutes later, Easton was leading the way up the driveway to our parents' house in the Burg. The 'Burg' is really called Chambersburg and is a little section of Trenton, New Jersey, mainly populated with Italians but with a few Greeks and Hungarians. Men go to work during the day while the women stayed home, cooked, cleaned, took care of the children, and gossiped with the other women. Dinner is cooked and on the table at six o'clock sharp. If you are late, the food is ruined and it is your fault. Good ole' Burg.

Mom and Dad don't live in the heart of the Burg like they used to. Easton bought them a house on the outskirts of the Burg. Actually it is Mom's dream house. The house is absolutely beautiful, with beige paint and red brick. The inside is just as beautiful, made to be homey yet sophisticated. Very Mom. Dad gets half of the basement which he has claimed as his man cave. Even Grandma gets her own space in the attic.

Mom seems to have this built-in child-radar as she always knows when Easton, Val, or I are near and is waiting at the door every time we visit. Tonight must not be the night for her radar to fail as she and Grandma were waiting at the door.

"Hey Mom. Hey Grandma. Guess what?" I said getting out of the car and walking to the door to greet them.

"What?" they both said. They are a lot alike but they refuse to see it.

"I'm not telling you until we get to the table!" I say. Easton just snickers and bends down to whisper to both Mom and Grandma. Soon the entryway was filled with squeals and hugs. "Thanks a lot, Bro."

"Anytime!" Easton says and walks to the dining room.

Valerie, her husband, Albert, and the kids were already seated along with Daddy. I gave all of them hugs then I took my spot next to Easton. After Grandma and Mom were seated, we began eating.

"Everyone, Stephanie has some really good news," Mom said after handing Daddy his food.

"Yes, I do. I got a job!" I said happily. After a round of congratulations from everyone, we continued eating. Dinner is mostly a silent ordeal. Except for when someone does something weird like when Grandma shot the turkey. That was a catastrophe.

After dinner, Daddy asked to speak with me in private. One thing about Frank Plum is that he doesn't talk much but when he does, you had better shut up and listen.

"How are you doing, Pumpkin?" Daddy said after we sat on the couch in his man cave.

"I'm good," I said.

"You're lying through your teeth," Daddy said. I am a really good liar but the one person who has always been able to see through me.

"I'm not sleeping well, I cry at the drop of a hat, I'm twitchy if I'm not at home, and I am perpetually nervous. Anything else?" I say hurriedly. Anything to get out of this conversation.

"I'm just trying to help! I know a woman who specializes in these kinds of situations that might be able to help you," Daddy says sincerely. "I want- no need- you to get help."

"I will, Daddy. I will," I said.

"Promise?"

"I promise."


	5. Pinkie Swear

Today is Monday! This will be my second time at RangeMan and my first full workday. There are no words to describe how excited I am. I have been working on some new software for the computers, iPads, and iPhones at work. I actually had the help of the head technologist at RangeMan, Hector. He seemed a little surprised about my knowledge of technology and even more surprised that I wasn't in the least bit intimidated by him. With his two tear drop tattoos under his eye, I can easily see why people would be intimidated.

Today I am wearing a sapphire colored wrap dress, pink six inch Christian Louboutin pumps, and a pink bag. I used my light pink lipstick and light blue eye shadow. My hair actually didn't take that long as I put it in a fairly easy updo. Soon I was ready to go and since Easton isn't coming in until later, I took my TT.

I pulled up to the gate for the employee parking garage in less than 15 minutes and flashed my key fob. After the gate opened, I pulled into my parking space and rode the elevator up to the fifth floor. Tank was waiting for me beside the elevator.

"Morning, Tank!" I said.

"You ready for the meeting?" Tank asked as we walk into my office.

"Yep, just let me drop some of my stuff," I say sitting down my purse and lunch. After repositioning my messenger bag, Tank led me to the conference room. Through the glass window, I could see that the other three members of the core team were there.

"Are we late?" I asked tank nervously.

"No, they are just early," Tank said. As we walked in, I noticed two empty chairs, both beside Ranger. Tank took the one on Ranger's right while I took the one on Ranger's left.

"Since everyone is here we can get started. I understand that you had some things to show us, Steph?" Ranger said looking at me.

"Yes, I have quite a bit actually. I saw all of the paperwork Tank had and I have been assured that all of you have even more so I developed several programs and apps I would like to show you," I say pulling out my personal laptop and iPad.

Noticing that no one had said a word, I glanced up and saw all of them gawking at my things. "What, have you never seen pink before?" I said snippily. Both my laptop and iPad have bedazzled cases all done in pink. The laptop one has different shades of pink in stripes and my iPad has my initial done in silver.

"Is that your company equipment? You do know that you are supposed to keep the original case on it, right?" Tank said incredulously.

"No, I have some programs on my laptop I don't have on the work one and I prefer my own stuff," I said. No wonder they were all surprised.

"Ok, carry on," Ranger said.

"Hector and I worked pretty much all Saturday and quite a bit of Sunday coming up with this stuff. He took me through the RangeMan system all the offices used and I made a prototype of a new one," I started. "I also created several apps that would connect to the system and I have made revisions to the ones you already use."

Attaching my laptop to the SmartBoard system, I pulled up my model. The system that RangeMan is currently on is quite hard to understand and has major room for improvement. With my new system, I made it so the offices can share documents among themselves and also with other offices. One of the many apps I made helps with time tracking. In the bounty hunting part of the business you are required to tell how much time it took your team to complete the case and how much time you individually took. While there already was a pretty good spreadsheet, I made it to where you can pretty much clock in on a case. Lester was very appreciative of that one as he is the Head of Bond Enforcement.

"Damn, Beautiful! Smart _and_ beautiful!" Lester exclaimed I finished talking about that particular app. Blushing, I went on to the next improvements and additions. Within an hour I was done.

"So when can you install it?" Ranger asked after my little presentation.

"I still have to get started on all of the other piles of paperwork. I can start the conversion now and start scanning all of the current paperwork. It will most likely take a long time to get everything converted to the network though," I said.

"That's fine. You did a good job. I will have to pass on the thanks to Hector," Ranger said. "Meeting dismissed."

"Babe, have you met with Celia yet?" Ranger said to me on the way out. Celia is the interior designer for RangeMan and I have also learned that she is Ranger's twin sister.

"No, but we are meeting today for lunch at noon," I told him.

"Good," he said before walking into his office. Ever since his reading during the interview, I have gotten the feeling he is quite intimidated by me, especially since I called him on being snippy with me. It is quite humorous actually.

By noon, I had half of Ranger's paperwork scanned into the database and signed using one of my new apps. Now it is time to leave to meet Celia to discuss my office. We have decided to meet at a popular pizza place in the Burg, Pino's, which is both close to Celia's office and RangeMan. Even though I got to Pino's a little early, Celia was already there.

"Hi, Stephanie!" Celia said excitedly as I reached our booth. Celia is pretty much a female version of Ranger with green eyes. "How are today?"

"I'm fine, you?" I asked. I could tell that she is a kind spirit. I can easily see us as good friends.

"I feel like I already know so much about you!" Celia said. "We had a party on Saturday and a couple of the guys came by including Ranger and you were all they could talk about! I have a feeling that my little bro and a few others have a bit of a crush on you!"

"I seriously doubt it," I said.

"It is true, honey, and you better believe it!" Celia said. "So let's talk about your office. What do you want out of it?"

"Well, I want calming colors, nothing bright. I also need a large desk because I have a lot of stuff!" I said.

"Ok, I already have some ideas. How about we order and get to know each other a bit more." Celia said.

Celia and I stayed at Pino's for another hour and we learned quite a bit about each other. I learned that Celia is older than Ranger by three minutes, hence why she had called him "little bro."

"Well I will get a virtual model prepared for you an email it to you. I should have it ready by tomorrow evening. Sound good?" Celia said.

"Perfect!" I reply.

After heading back to RangeMan, I was able to complete Ranger's set of paperwork and fully set up the new RangeMan system. I would have to remember to ask Ranger about installing it for the other offices.

Soon after finishing my office phone rang. The extension number came from Ranger's office. "Stephanie speaking," I said politely.

"Can I see you in my office before you leave, Babe?" Ranger said. I don't exactly remember when he started calling me "Babe" but I kind of like it. Damn, I need to get a hold of myself. He is my boss.

"Sure, Ranger!" I said. Before I could say "goodbye" the phone was dead. Oh hell no. He did _not_ just hang up on me.

Forgetting where I was for a brief moment, I stormed down the hall into Ranger's office. "How _dare_ you hang up on _me_?" I shout. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Babe."

"Don't one word me! Answer my question!" I reply. Now I am approaching rhino mode.

"What would you like me to say?" Ranger said raising one eyebrow.

"Didn't your mother teach you that it is impolite to hang up on people? That is so disrespectful! I expect more from you! A nice little 'Goodbye' or 'Talk to you later' or 'See you in a few' would be nice, Mr. Boss-With-A-Stick-Up-His-Ass!" I scream. "And when you answer the phone, a nice 'Hello, this is Ranger' would be adequate! Jesus, do you _always_ have such bad phone manners or is it just me?"

I was quite satisfied with the nervous expression Ranger had on by the time I was done with my rant. He nervously scratched that back of his neck before replying. "Babe."

"_What did I say about one word answers?!_" I screamed.

"Sorry! I will try to have better phone manners. Does that satisfy you?" he said.

"_No!_ Pinkie swear!" I said holding out my pinkie to him. He looked like he was about to protest until I pinned him with my death glare. I have been told that I actually _could_ kill someone with this look but it hasn't happened yet. Ranger reluctantly twisted his pinkie with mine and sighed.

Suddenly I was aware of cheers and clapping. Looking behind me, I saw several of the guys including the core team and Easton. "I leave you to go to work by yourself once and by the time I get here, you are screaming at the boss," Easton said.

"Whelp, you know who your sister is," I say and shrug. "You needed to see me?"

"Um, yea. Would you be willing to do some client meetings? I have a feeling that clients would be more comfortable with you," Ranger said shaking his head.

"Sure. Was that it?" I say.

"You are allowed to have a business car. All the other employees get SUVs but since you won't be doing field work I was going to get you something smaller. Any requests?" Ranger said.

"I would prefer if it wasn't black," I said.

"You got it," Ranger said. Minutes later, I took my things out to my car and started the short journey home. Before I could pull out of the garage though, my phone rang with the tone for Daddy.

"Hey, Daddy," I said when I answered the phone.

"Hey, Pumpkin. Are you home from work yet?" Daddy said.

"I just pulled out of the garage at RangeMan. Do you need something?" I ask.

"Actually, your crazy grandmother is in jail," Daddy said with a rather frustrated tone.

"Are you serious? What did she do this time?" I say. This isn't the first time Grandma Mazur has been arrested. Her rap sheet is probably the length of my arm. Thank God they are all misdemeanors.

"Indecent exposure," he deadpanned.

"You have got to be kidding me," I say incredulously. "I am still close to RangeMan; I can go back and ask Easton if he can come with me to the station."

"Goodbye, Pumpkin," Daddy said.

"Bye, Daddy!"

Doing a quick U-turn, I found myself yet again in the RangeMan garage. Racing up the stairs (who am I kidding, I'd never go up the stairs, especially in these heels), I asked Binkie, who is currently manning the monitors, where Easton is.

"He is in the lounge, ma'am," Binkie said, blushing slightly when he looked at me.

"Thank you! And what did I say about calling me 'ma'am'?" I asked him.

"To not to," Binkie said in his Southern drawl.

"Remember that next time!" I said walking down the hall to the lounge. "Easton!"

"Stephie!" Easton said, using one of my many nicknames. "Why are you here? Didn't you leave?"

"Yes but I got a call from Daddy," I told him. "Grandma is in jail again."

"Are you serious? What for?" Easton said a hint of exasperation and curiosity.

"Indecent exposure."

"I'll ask Ranger if I can leave for a bit," Easton said, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"You do that," I said. "I'm going to go on and head down to the station."

"See you in a bit, Lucky," Easton said as I left the lounge and headed for the elevator again.


	6. Grandma and the Clip 'n Curl Girls

Wassup my wonderful readers?! Here is chapter six. Sorry for the wait but real life is apparently on its period because it has been showing some major attitude! I did get a new computer out of is though so I guess that's a plus! Don't forget to review!

* * *

Since I have no idea what state of dress Grandma will be in when I get to the station, I stop by a boutique that is on the way to the station. I picked out black and blue yoga pants, a black jacket, black and blue Nikes, a blue tank top, and standard "grandma undergarments". It was pretty much a straight shot from the boutique to the station and I got there in no time. Robin, the only woman on the force, was sitting at the desk when I walked in.

"Hey, Girl! How are you?" Robin said.

"I'm good, Robin! So, has Grandma already been booked?" I ask her. If she had, Robin would have booked her.

"Yes, she has. The bond has also been set. She might have to do a little jail time since this is most definitelynot the first time she has been arrested for this," Robin replied.

"That sucks. As soon as Easton and Vinnie get here, we are going to bail her out. So how has life been for you, Robin?" I ask.

After about five minutes of small talk, Easton walks in with Vinnie trailing after him. "All right, let's get this ball rolling! I have other things to do than bail your grandma out of jail!" Vinnie says. Vinnie is my and Easton's weasel of a cousin. You probably think I am being mean but the man literally looks like a weasel with his beady eyes, lanky frame, and slicked back brown hair. He is also one of the sickest people I know. Once there was this whole ordeal with Vinnie and a duck that I will not go into details about. Since then there have been many more barnyard animal rumors surrounding Vinnie. Amazingly, his wife, Lucile, is still oblivious.

"She has already been booked and everything, Vinnie. This should be quick," I tell the impatient man.

"You guys need to keep a closer eye on her!" Vinnie shouts. "I am tired of coming down here to bail her out every other day!" Vinnie is silenced by one of Easton's death glares. After that, Vinnie hurried about his business and hauled ass out of the station.

"They didn't give her anything but a blanket, Steph. Did you bring some clothes?" Easton said after coming out of Grandma's cell. The poor boy looks so scarred.

"Yea, I brought her some things. I'll go get her dressed and take her back home; you go on back to work," I said to him, rubbing his back.

"Ok, I'll see you later," Easton calls over his shoulder on his way out.

After dressing Grandma in the bathroom, we made our way out to my car. "Have I told what a pip of a car this here is, Stephie? I should get me one of these in a nice blue," Grandma said.

"Oh, Grandma. You really think I don't know what you are doing?" I say turning to look at her after putting on my seatbelt.

"I knew I couldn't avoid this," Grandma sighed. "Well it all started this morning in Atlantic City…"

By the end of the story, I was disgusted beyond belief. Apparently, Grandma and the girls from Clip 'n Curl went to Atlantic City for a 2 Chainz concert. After the concert, Grandma and the girls snuck backstage and went to meet 2 Chainz. But they were naked. Who does that? On top of that, they lost their clothes so when they were kicked out, they had nothing to wear. They decided to take advantage of that and went on a shopping spree at the mall in the Burg. Naked. Sigh.

The rest of the trip was made in silence since I had nothing to say to her confession. By the time we reached Mom and Dad's it was a 5:45. Mom was already at the door waiting for us.

"Mother! How dare you? Why me? Elaine McCowski's mother doesn't get arrested at all much less for indecent exposure!" Mom yelled at Grandma.

"Oh hush, Ellen! Elaine's mother is _dead_!" Grandma replied, brushing past her daughter.

"I don't know what to do with her," Mom says, shaking her head. "Would you like to stay for dinner, Steph?"

"Sure! What are we having?" I ask.

"Steak and potatoes," Mom says walking into the kitchen. Since it is only the four of us, there is no need to eat at the big dining room table.

"So how has work been?" Mom asked when we sat down.

"It is actually fun. Never thought I would enjoy sitting behind a desk all day long but it's not bad," I said. "Although I did go off on my boss today and said boss also has a weird habit of calling me 'Babe' but whatever, you know?"

"Well is he cute? One of the girls at Clip 'n Curl was talking about them RangeMen and she said they are all handsome and have nice-"

"Edna, please, not at the table! I am trying to eat and I can't do that thinking about you and some poor, unsuspecting man's 'package'!" Daddy said.

"Oh, shove it, Frank! You are so uptight!" Grandma said, rolling her eyes at Daddy. Daddy just sent her a death glare and mumbled under his breath.

Soon after that almost-awkward-conversation, Mom left for the kitchen to get desert. Tonight, Mom fixed a German chocolate cake. After moaning through a very large piece of the cake, I said my goodbyes and made my way out of the door. Before I could leave, Daddy caught my eye. No actual words were spoken but I knew he was telling me to stick to the promise I made last Friday. Giving him a brief nod, I walked out of the door and headed home.

Within ten minutes I was back home. Walking into the dark foyer, I dropped my keys on the table and turned on the light. Quickly walking to the kitchen, I sat down the leftovers Mom sent home with me and made my way to my room. After changing into more comfortable clothes, I decided to go to the game room.

Putting in _Ghostbusters_, which just happens to be one of my favorite movies, I settled down on the couch to watch it. I must have fallen asleep because I woke to being carried by Easton.

"I can walk, you know," I say quietly. My actions contradicted it though, seeing as I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly.

"Can't a bro just carry his sis to bed without said sis complaining?" Easton said jokingly.

"Not when said sis is Stephanie Michelle Plum," I reply. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yes, Mother. I grabbed something at RangeMan."

"Good." And that was the last thing I remembered before slipping into la la land.


	7. Paging Dr Steele

OMG HI! HOW ARE YOU? You guys have like no idea how sorry I am about not posting. Just you guys don't know how bad life has kicked my butt. Between my family and work and so much other stuff, my muse has like died. But it has been revived at last! It's just funny how the horrible things in life inspire you to make beauty! I just posted the edited version of this chapter so if you already read it you can re-read it without errors.

*3 Months Later*

"Hi, I have an appointment with Dr. Steele," I say quietly to the receptionist.

"Just sign in here and she will be with you shortly. Here is a hint, though: she prefers for you to call her Celeste!" she replies.

Grabbing a magazine (an up to date one at that) off of the side table, I sat in one of the plastic chairs on the wall. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for a tall woman with icy blue eyes, an amazing tan, and long black/brown hair to arrive at the desk.

"You must be Stephanie!" said Dr. Steele, walking over and shaking my hand.

"Yes, and you are Celeste, I assume?" I say nervously. Gosh, she is still like five inches taller than me in my 6 inch heels. And she has on flats.

"Yep! At least I don't have to go through the whole 'think of me as your friend' routine," she says. "You look gorgeous!"

Cue blush. "Thank you," I say bashfully.

"Well, let's get to my office and get started!" Celeste says excitedly.

Walking down the hall in her wake, I can't help but feel unbelievably nervous. This will be the first time I even attempt to tell anyone outside of Easton and Daddy about what happened to me six months ago in detail. While I may look like I am getting along perfectly to the outside world, my family and I know I have a long way to go. Hopefully Celeste can help me do that.

"So, as I said, you look gorgeous today. But I must admit, it is a little dressy for a psychiatrist appointment," said Celeste. "What's up with that?"

Glancing down at my tiered floral skirt and ruffled Ralph Lauren shirt, I had to agree with her. "I'm super nervous about this as you can probably tell. I've found that fashion and make-up give me… courage, I guess, in a way. This just happens to be a courage outfit." I explain. "And the heels, well I just like wearing heels. One of the perks of being short is that I can usually wear super tall heels and still be at least two inches shorter than my date."

"I see," Celeste replied with a chuckle. "Well, you have nothing to be nervous about. So tell me a little about yourself. Why are you here?"

"Well, about eight months ago, I got a divorce. I was forced to move in with my brother - which actually isn't really much of a hardship. Then, two months after that-" I stop, gathering my thoughts. Glancing at Celeste, I see her eyes filled with patience. "Two months after that, I was abducted for eight days."

"Well, I can see that the last part is quite hard for you to talk about, so we can wait for that," Celeste says patiently, patting my hand which is lying on her desk. "While I would like to talk to you about the divorce, I would first like to ask you if there are any questions or concerns you have for me."

"Well, I have been having frequent panic attacks. I did have a minor anxiety disorder as a child but that had more to do with performance anxiety. Now I get flustered and panicky at the drop of a hat," I reply. "I also have nightmares and I have been known to have the occasional night terror."

"Where you prescribed anything in the past for anxiety?" Celeste asks.

"No. Like I said it was mostly performance anxiety. I was involved in quite a few extracurricular activities and all of them required some sort of public performance," I say. "I did however take some cognitive behavioral therapy and that helped. But it seems like none of the skills I got drilled into my brain work while I'm getting anxious now."

"Well, I usually don't do this especially so early in therapy, but I am going to prescribe you some quick acting anxiety medication. Are you on any other medication?"

"I get a birth control shot and I take allergy medicine."

"Well you should be fine then. I'll just prescribe you a low dose of Xanax. This is only supposed to be taken in emergency." After receiving my approval, she continued on. "So what is this about the nightmares and night terrors?"

"Well, I have had night terrors occasionally throughout my whole life from what my mother tells me. They have, however, gotten more frequent and last longer. The nightmares though happen at least twice a night," I say to her. "After the first one, my brother usually moves me to his bed. He is usually able to wake me up quickly and calm me down fairly easily. The night terrors usually last for about 20 to 25 minutes according to Easton."

"Do you have any problems getting to sleep?" she asks me.

"Not really."

"Good. If you were I would have had to think about putting you on sleeping medicine but with you having nightmares the way you do, it probably would have not let you wake up from them," she explains. "Let's talk about your divorce."

"Well, the marriage of Richard and Stephanie Orr was pretty much doomed from the beginning. I never wanted to get married," I start.

"Well, why did you?" Celeste curiously inquired.

"That is a quite long story. In addition to my brother, I have a sister two years older than me, Valerie. In the Burg, women are expected to act a certain way, do certain things. Valerie was the perfect Burg daughter. She knew how to cook, clean, and entertain guests. She had perfect manners. She did what she was supposed to do and didn't ask questions. While I knew my mom loved me, Valerie was obviously her favorite. And I was okay with that. What I wasn't okay with was the constant berating that came along with not conforming. She has gotten better about it and now I see she came from a good place, but back then, I just wanted my mother's approval. Something I never got. Until I met Dickie," I say

"Dickie? That's what he calls himself? What self-respecting, grown ass man calls himself 'Dickie'?" Celeste exclaims in a fit of laughter. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh but that was funny. Continue."

"Well, when, I met Dickie, he was charming. Not exactly the hottest guy around but cute enough. Came from a nice Burg family. Successful lawyer already even at his young age. Safe. More importantly, very Burg." I say. "It was Mom's dream come true. Valerie was already married and expecting her second child. Easton was moved out of the house and enlisted in the Army. I was the only one left at home. Dickie and I were married within the time frame of two months. I didn't love him. I honestly didn't even trust him. But Mom was just so happy. I couldn't ruin it for her. So we got married. It was a big Burg affair with the puffy dress, huge crowd, and reception at the VW hall. Despite not wanting to be a trophy wife, I was good at it.

"After about a month and a half, however, I came home from the grocery store to find Dickie fucking Joyce Barnhardt on my dining room table. On. The. Fucking. Table. Matter of fact, I had just received and put together the table the previous day!" I said, my voice rising. "Anyway. I have been known to have quite the temper. Comes from my Italian side I guess. My normal MO is to scream and use Italian gestures so you know you're in trouble when I am calm. I calmly escorted Ms. Barnyard out of the house. I then led Dick Head to the basement, locked him in there and set to work. By the time I let him out of the basement I had started a fire with the dining room table in the front yard, burned our marriage certificate and all his clothes and was making s'mores over the fire. I then proceeded to beat him with my shoe."

After my story, Celeste just looked at me with wide eyes and an opened mouth. What can I say? A woman scorned is not something to play about.

"How did you get the table out of the house?" she asks in a whisper.

"My axe."

"Um… okay. I think we should work on your anger issues. But that is a topic for another time. So what happened after that?"

"We had a nasty divorce. I had signed a prenup that stated that if we got a divorce, I would get everything I went into the marriage with and anything that I earn for salary. The only way I would get half of everything was if I had proof of abuse or infidelity. Since I kicked Barnyard out the second I arrived, I didn't have time to take any pictures or anything. Which was okay with me. That did however leave me with no job or money. I then moved in with Easton." I reply.

"I think one of the big things we have to talk about is your relationship with your mother. That, however, will have to be saved for another session as you time is up. Here is my card. It has both the office number and my personal number. Don't hesitate to call me." Celeste says. "How about we meet same time next week?"

After nodding, getting my prescription, and scheduling my next appointment with the receptionist, I was on my way to Pino's for a midday rendezvous with Valerie and the girls.

* * *

All five of the Kloughns were easy to spot due to Mary Alice's loud voice, Lisa's screaming and banging, and Susan's loud baby gurgle. The joy of parenthood.

"Aunt Steph!" exclaimed both Mary Alice and Angie. Apparently Angie is excited; normal Angie would never yell like that in a public place.

As usual, Valerie got the booth closest to the bathrooms. Walking to the table, I gave MA, Angie, and Val a hug before kissing Lisa on the forehead and blowing raspberries on Susan's tummy."How are my favorite sister and my favorite nieces?"

"Aunt Steph, I made a 100 on the math test you helped me study for!" Angie said proudly, bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Great job, Angie-Bug!" I say, giving her a high five, "And what about that social studies test you had to take last week, MA? Is Easton's game idea still working out?"

"I made a 100 on that test! With all these A's I'm getting I will have an A average in that class before the end of the quarter!" MA says happily.

"I really want to say thank you to you and Easton. You guys have helped the girls so much. With Albert's firm finally picking up and taking care of Lisa and Susan, I hardly have any time to help them with their homework." Valerie says to me.

"Well they are our nieces! It's our job to help out! And if you need time to yourself or some adult time with Albert, you can just call one of us and we can take the girls out for the day," I say. I would have offered to let them spend the night but with my nightmares, it would be impossible for them to get much sleep.

"That is so sweet! I have the nicest siblings in the world!" Valerie declared excitedly.

"So, Valerie, Mary Lou and another friend of mine were planning on going out tonight. I know it is short notice, but I figured you could leave Susan and Lisa could stay with Albert, MA and Angie could spend the night with Mom and Dad, and you could come with us," I say hopefully. Valerie hasn't gotten out much since having Susan and she is way overdue for a break.

"You sure I can come? I wouldn't want to intrude," Valerie says hesitantly.

"Of course you can come! You're just as much of my friend as Lula and Mary Lou are!" I exclaim in response.

"I really appreciate that, Stephanie," Valerie says. "You guys ready to eat?"

30 minutes later, the five of us were heading our separate ways. "What time do I need to be ready?" Valerie asks me.

"We plan on being at the Rossini's by 7:30. That gives us enough time to eat and be at the club by 9:00. I can stop and pick you up; your house is on my way to Rossini's."

"Thanks, Steph, I'll be ready!"

"Bye, Aunt Steph!" MA and Angie said, climbing in Val's minivan.

Stopping at the pharmacy on my way home, I pick up my prescription and continue on my way. Ten minutes later, I am looking for a good party outfit that is still acceptable for Rossini's. This is going to take a while. I think to myself.


End file.
